A seasonal warning is due to all students looking to rent property, especially if it is their first time in the waters of rental property.
As has been discussed on this blog before most landlords are fair and just. But as with all sectors, it has its fair share of shady dealers. And students, young and often desperate having left things to the last minute, can be their favourite prey.
This is especially true this year as the supply of rental property is low and students are likely to have a harder time finding things in their budget. An example of the sort of thing that goes on was recently exposed on the Gumtree website. A scam involving fake landlords asking potential tenants to send them money for non-existent accommodation was uncovered but not before it had claimed some victims.
A lot of these fake landlords claim to be members of the NLA (national landlord’s association) and even go so far as to forge letter heads with that claim. My number one tip to avoid scammers is to check that claim.
Go to www.goodlandlord.org.uk and enter the landlord’s details. If they have not given you a valid UK address to allow you to run this check then that is your first clue to have nothing to do with them. They are required to do that by law.
